Starting Over
by AlwaysSandcastles
Summary: They waited, waited along time for each other but what's a little more waiting going to hurt them. It is midnight, after along day and night can they finally put the past behind them and start over. What if Barney and Robin decided to give their relationship another shot? Takes place in season 7 after the episode Tick, Tick, Tick.
1. Chapter 1

If you notice this is all in season 7, this story starts from "Tick, Tick, Tick" and flashes to the scene when B/R were dating in the summer of 09 in between season 4 and 5 which was the scene where they are secretly together and keeping it from the gang, the scene with Robin in the stormtrooper outfit.

I thought of this idea for a while but I just couldn't find the right way to write this until now. What would happen if Robin ended her relationship with Kevin to be with Barney when she wanted to be because her feelings for Barney was very much still there. I mean this is in the heat of her feelings for him so telling Barney how she really feels needs to happen and for me it's this idea that will do just that.

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><p>He stood in the bar right at midnight waiting for her to come through the doors that they have come through since they met. It was midnight, it was late, he was exhausted from the day he had and a little worried that tonight may not go as he hoped. He wasn't one of those desperate people looking for a mate, he never really wanted a real relationship but when he met Robin that day in this very bar years earlier changed everything. The day was supposed to be a fun wingmanbro day/night out but the moment he saw her he knew it.

The spot he stood in was the exact same spot seven years earlier where he saw her across the room and thought man "you know she likes it dirty". To some that would mean he just wants to bang her cause she's hot but to him the sight of this beautiful brunette across the room set his heart beating faster than a second hand on a clock or a speeding car. He's never felt such a shock to his heart before but that heartbeat that seemed to only beat faster for her every time she entered this very bar, walked in and out of the apartment that is just right up above this very bar. Anytime she came in and out of his life either as a friend or whatever they were doing that summer they were together he thought those times she left him wouldn't be for long.

He does know how many times he almost lost her and he doesn't want to know or even remember them but tonight he hoped that for the first time since knowing her, they would talk and decide to give each other a second chance at a relationship.

Their first go at a relationship was so short that it all was such a blur after they ended their dating relationship and went back or tried to go back to being friends. The friends thing didn't work for long because just the other night they were clearly not just friends. What happened between them felt like it was something that never went away, the kiss in back of the cab, the way they couldn't stop kissing not even when they entered his apartment buildings lobby or the elevator or Barney's floor, the kissing was so intense and so frantic that neither came up for air until they hit his bed. The way they couldn't stop being with each other, remembering each and every inch of each others bodies, remembering just how easy it was to be with her again to have her in his arms, in his bed, in his mind, in his memories. That night was so insane neither of the knew what they were doing or what they wanted but when the time came to be honest with her about everything that's been going on with them since they broke up.

That passion, that love, that want, that need, that kiss was still there because for him it never went away and he knows it never went away for her either, at least he hoped it didn't. He didn't really know what she's thinking he isn't a mind reader but he knows her better than she likes to admit and he knows that she could still have feelings for him but it's all up to her now. Does she love him? Does she want to try again? Did the other night mean something more to her like it did him? He wants to desperately find out and hopefully he's right.

He knows he loves her, he never stopped loving her but does she still love him? Or better yet does she want to try again and be together because this thing they're doing isn't working for him and he knows it isn't working for her either. At least he hopes the latter is true and in just a few minutes she will walk through those doors of the very bar they first met and they would discuss their relationship.

She's looking at the watch on her wrist knowing that the time she has is getting closer. God, this night was just awful, she's not only hated herself for cheating on such a nice guy like Kevin, the feelings that never went away for Barney, Barney cheating on a nice innocent girl like Nora, the feelings for Barney. Ugh, it always seems to go back to those pesky feelings, the feelings that never went away, the feeling she tried to forget and move on from because she told herself it's much easier and safer to shove being in love with Barney away. She knew it was a bad thing, she knew she would get hurt or he will get hurt it's why she's been so afraid of trusting herself when it came to Barney.

With Kevin here in the hospital and Barney with Nora she doesn't know what to do or say but this night was a disaster and sleeping with Barney was not a smart thing to do but this is the thing with her and with him too. She can never stop herself when it comes to Barney, rather it's a challenge, going out to a club or just hanging out she could never say no to him. She doesn't have an answer for doing the things she just did to a nice guy like Kevin but when it comes to Barney she knows it's her heart telling her to do those fun things with Barney makes her say yes without even knowing why she says yes to him.

That's the problem with them, she's so crazy in love with him that thinking things through first before doing anything has always been what gets her and them into trouble. But, it's those fun times that make her feel alive, makes her feel like a teenager again, being with him, around him doesn't make her think but all those crazy fun times just made her see Barney in a new light. Being with him that summer and having the time of her life by just being herself and finding new and interesting things to do with Barney while dating was some of the best most memorable times of her life.

"Barney, I can't believe you. Leaving me in this damn suit while you watched hours worth of star wars.." She's so mad, so burning out and mad that Barney let her stay in that stormtrooper suit for that long she couldn't even get out of it or move to use the bathroom. She's so sweaty and stinky.

"Sorry, now that the guys are gone... Where were we?" Barney didn't care about how mad she was or how sweaty she is he just likes this fantasy and wants to get back to what they were doing before they got interrupted.

"No, Barney I'm all sweaty and I stink from being stuck in this thing all afternoon I'm not having sex with you when I'm looking like this." He knows she's mad at him but damn she's hot.

"Baby, you're so hot right now I don't care how you look I need you. Now..." He takes her hand and pulls her to the bedroom without getting her out of the stormstrooper suit.

That was the last time she said no but it actually meant I give up which also meant fine and yes. She really can't say no to the man it's always been that way with him but damn it the sex they had that day was some of the best sex she ever had and by the end of it she forgave him for being an ass and leaving her in that suit that afternoon.

Now, she's standing in the emergency room with her boyfriend trying to find a way to break it to him that she's in love with someone else. For the first time she doesn't feel nervous or scared to admit that she does have feelings for Barney but she needs to get this done first.


	2. Chapter 2

The clock struck midnight and the door opens bringing in a light chill from the chilly night air. She came, he can't believe his eyes when she walks through the door and towards him with a small smile of hope on her lips. Boy, if there was any moment when he was nervous it would be the minute he realized that he's in love. For the first time in his life he's in love with this woman who was just a friend for a while but that all changed when they slept together, he struggled all summer staying up late at night sometimes never falling asleep, he would day dream about her in ways he's never dreamed about anyone before, he couldn't sleep or eat, anytime he saw her or she was near her he would become nervous. Fighting these feelings that he didn't know he even had but anytime she was around him he would cover up his nerves with trying to stay calm by talking to her like he always did before those pesky feelings came up.

His hands had been in his pockets for most of the time trying to to show how nervous his hands were shaking but when she entered MacLaren's all nerves stopped because it seemed as though everything around him stopped. Was his heart even pumping at all at this moment he doesn't even know, he doesn't know if he's alive or if she's actually real and there in his presence.

She showed up, she really showed up he's not dreaming and if he was someone needs to wake him up.

"Hi." Robin has been so nervous all night, breaking up with Kevin was really hard for her to do but it had to be done even though what he said to her at the hospital was sweet. She's just not in love with him, yes he's a nice guy and he's said some nice things but her heart was just not in the relationship like it should be. Her heart is with another man and she promised him that they will meet at midnight at MacLaren's and talk about them. It's been a weird couple of days, the last few hours was like a nightmare she couldn't get away from. Between what happened with Barney and Kevin her mind is going crazy, she's been so confused lately but letting Kevin go was the right thing to do. She can drag him through her mess of a life, he's too good for her. It's hard but it had to be done even if he's a sweet guy she just doesn't feel the way he does about her and leading him on and lying to him wasn't something she wanted to do so she came clean and told him everything that had been going on with her and Barney.

"Hi." He's terribly nervous, he thought his nerves would stop but it hasn't gosh she looks both beautiful and terrified he's almost relieved that she's just as nervous as he is. He can tell just by the way she's looking at him right now.

After a while they chatted with the gang and told them about their crazy evening but they didn't tell them about their night together or their decision to give their relationship another try. They had yet to talk alone together but after sometime with their friends, each friend went home and they stayed behind to talk and have some more drinks.

"I'm glad you came I almost wanted to leave but was hopeful that you would come so I stayed." Barney is the first one to talk after their friends leave taking a sip of his scotch then setting it back down on the table.

"Yeah, I was almost not going to come things with Kevin didn't go as smoothly as I wanted it to go." She's done the deed but now comes the conversation that's probably the easiest conversation she will ever have tonight but she wants to take things slow so she tells him just that.

"Oh, what happened?" He needs to know everything even the almost didn't come part so his nerves will ease off and he can settle himself with a genuine smile.

"Ugh" she sighed taking a much needed long drink of her own scotch. "It didn't go as I hoped it would, he didn't want to budge to let me tell him what happened between us he just kept going on and on about how wonderful I am. But, after letting him finish what he was saying I told him everything. I won't go into the details too much but I told him about us, our night together, cheating, everything and by the end he realized that I'm..." She pauses clearing her throat and looking down trying to fight the tears she's been trying so hard to fight all night long. "He realized that I'm in love with you. I didn't tell him I was but he just saw it in the way I was talking through my guilt and confessions he saw the pain in my eyes and the tears of regret but not the regret of us sleeping together or my feelings for you just the regret of letting him on and keeping him from knowing the truth."

"And, what's the truth?" Barney asked hoping this is a good truth and not a bad truth for him or for them and their relationship.

"That... I want to be with you. I want to try again. My regret was denying myself for along time that I shouldn't risk trying again with you because I was scared." She's now crying more harder and the tears are coming down fast, this is when Barney starts to tear up himself realizing that for the first time in along time he can stop denying himself. "Scared of trusting my heart with you because I can't deal with losing you in my life. So, I finally stopped denying my heart and following it bringing me to the conclusion that I'm in love with you. I always was, I always will be and I can no longer go on pretending what I already knew." She can't go on with here life knowing what she knew all along.

"I know, I was too because I thought if I told you that I still had feelings for you those feelings wouldn't be reciprocated." He's so relieved that their night together wasn't just some fling of great sex they actually made love and that makes him extremely happy.

"Remember Punchy's wedding?" She asks, bringing up the time they had done that impromptu dance at the time her feelings had returned.

"Yeah, that was some wedding huh?"

"Yeah, it was but it was at that wedding that I wanted to tell you how I was feeling. At the time I thought letting you be with Nora was for the best because she made you happy. But, I wanted to tell you then."

"It wasn't Nora who made me happy, Robin. It's you who does, ever since that day during the storm when I told you that a day without talking to you was no good and I meant what I said. I thought I could live in this denial but it was then that made me realize just how much I still loved you. You are the only person in my life I ever considered having a life with and now that I know that you still loved me all this time... I'm happy to know that I wasn't alone."

"No, you were never alone Barney. I wanted to tell you so desperately at Punchy's wedding but I told myself it was better to stay in denial. But, that denial just broke me more. I'm so deeply broken but I know now that I can't deny myself from healing from that brokenness. I love you and I want to try to be together again but without all the lies and keeping things from our friends part. So, what I'm saying is can we start over?"

They have both been in denial since their breakup thinking that any feelings that were left between them was gone, that there were no feelings left and it was easier on both of them that living in denial was the best way to conceal their feelings but that just destroyed them emotionally and made them both even more messed up than they ever were before dating each other. That breakup messed them up so much that each day being apart broke them a little more everyday and it wasn't healthy for either of them.

It took him a little while to say something but everything now makes sense and he's ready to start again. New and fresh with everything on the table. No more secrets, no more lies just open and honest and they both were happier knowing that new is always better and starting their relationship over again is what both decided they want.

"I want to be with you too... For along time, Robin after we broke up I tried to forget. Forget about you, forget about us, forget any feelings I had left for you everything but all it did was break me more. I've missed you so much I never felt this way towards anyone before." Barney is now sitting on her side of the booth holding her in his arms while her tears tried to die down he's really been in a lot of pain and he sees now that Robin has been too.

"I missed you too. So much!"

By the time they were done with their conversation and the tears subsided they were kissing passionately at the booth and happier than ever. Tomorrow will be a new day and for now figuring anything else out will wait till then. They go back to his place and stay up to talk till early morning sunrise, they even watched the sunrise from the balcony laying down on a blow up mattress.

"So, how are we going to tell the others about us?"


End file.
